It's the first story listed here.
Though it begins with that dubious mythic history of the cowboy hat, this is a great history of what it was like to work at Stetson, as told by former employees. Things sound pretty rosy for the first half of the recording, but get quite a bit tougher after that. Even the rosiness dulls with statements like: you got a week's vacation after 25 years and 6,000 employees down to 450 over 35 years.
I wonder if the bell's clapper will end up on ebay someday.
Here's the description of the show from the site:
"You Work at Stetson's?" was broadcast in November of 1982 as the first of a radio documentary series titled "I Remember When." The series was devoted to recounting various aspects of Philadelphia's history. "By 1886, John B. Stetson owned the world’s biggest Hat factory in Philadelphia and employed nearly 4,000 workers. The factory was putting out about 2 million hats a year by 1906. Stetson was a pioneer in mechanizing the art of hat manufacturing. He was also part of a movement of liberal business reform in the early 20th century, now referred to as "welfare capitalism." He offered a variety of benefits to his employees, including free health care -- and gave shares in his company to valued workers. As a philanthropist, he founded Stetson University in Deland, Florida, and built a Philadelphia hospital. This documentary, based on oral interviews with former Stetson employees, looks as the industrial world that Stetson created."
Though it begins with that dubious mythic history of the cowboy hat, this is a great history of what it was like to work at Stetson, as told by former employees. Things sound pretty rosy for the first half of the recording, but get quite a bit tougher after that. Even the rosiness dulls with statements like: you got a week's vacation after 25 years and 6,000 employees down to 450 over 35 years.
I wonder if the bell's clapper will end up on ebay someday.
Here's the description of the show from the site:
"You Work at Stetson's?" was broadcast in November of 1982 as the first of a radio documentary series titled "I Remember When." The series was devoted to recounting various aspects of Philadelphia's history. "By 1886, John B. Stetson owned the world’s biggest Hat factory in Philadelphia and employed nearly 4,000 workers. The factory was putting out about 2 million hats a year by 1906. Stetson was a pioneer in mechanizing the art of hat manufacturing. He was also part of a movement of liberal business reform in the early 20th century, now referred to as "welfare capitalism." He offered a variety of benefits to his employees, including free health care -- and gave shares in his company to valued workers. As a philanthropist, he founded Stetson University in Deland, Florida, and built a Philadelphia hospital. This documentary, based on oral interviews with former Stetson employees, looks as the industrial world that Stetson created."
